Is music hardware, just plain dead?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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j2j
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Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:12 pm

Is music hardware, just plain dead?

Post by j2j » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:26 pm

I mean...

I thought I'd be wild on the TI2, and perhaps even interested in buying one. I'm afraid I'm not.

Furthermore, the controllers are interesting to me. But not mega-interesting.

I'm looking at Waldorfmusic dot com, and wowzers, they have a cool new virtual instrument. I find that awesome. There is the new Fexpansion synth squad. That is bloody awesome. Obviously, there is Live v8, and that is totally awesome.

Was there any hardware whatsoever? It just seems, software is destroying hardware.

How about the new Roland/Cakewalk VStudio? I'm bored...
too many lasers...

UKRuss
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Post by UKRuss » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:29 pm

you need akai apc40. :D

j2j
Posts: 1316
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:12 pm

Post by j2j » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:32 pm

UKRuss wrote:you need akai apc40. :D

Thats true...


:D


I've spent my music budget for the year of 2009 already. I know exactly what I want to add to the studio... Just have to wait for the products to be released...



8) 8)
too many lasers...

Silverfish
Posts: 753
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Location: Calgary, AB

Post by Silverfish » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:35 pm

I think hardware will always be special. I hope it doesn't go extinct. Currently, we have nearly a half century of music tech that is much sought after and still fun to play with, even if software tramples all over it. I don't think twenty years from now people will be seeking out "vintage early-millennium Mac OS X leopard sequencers". In fact, I think it could be a real problem. Are instruments becoming disposable?

Quick, someone create a legacy archive of all music software.
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Gargoyle
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Post by Gargoyle » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:54 pm

in my opinion the situation is just the opposite, I'm fairly new to Live and enjoying it very much but I've noticed on this forum as well as most of the other major music forums that hardware, even old antiquated hardware is making a really strong come back. The software these days seems capable of anything short of curing cancer but people seem to be really turned off
not by the myriad of options but of the disconnect between the musician and the magicians bag of tricks. there are tons of midi controllers and people are making their own as well but still they seem to only offer greater 'control' over the bag of tricks and less closure between the musician and the software. two great examples of this are the fact that everyone and their grandmother is trying to get their hands on an mpc, these days they're more popular than ever, very strange in this day and age
another example is Ni's traktor, by todays software standards even the latest version traktor pro is way under powered, but more and more people use it, there are many people who have shelled out the not too little amount of money for ableton live and still went ahead and purchased traktor because for some reason they feel more comfortable with it for their basic needs.
so basicly what i'm saying is that it is not really innovation that is driving these issues we're far enough into the future with our current and near features to get the job done but what is obvious is that people are after workflow, and the ability to own an instrument, and even the audience is getting tired of same old rehashed laptop performances.

a friend of mine put it too me like this he couldn't wait for Live 8 to come out but now that it has he wonders what it's going to be like going to a show and 5 or 6 acts are just looping music what then?
now he doesn't even do that sort of thing so he knows not everybody uses live in the same way but the point is where is electronic music going as a whole and has the tech been more harmful than helpful in the long run. everybody always talks about how the music was better before when we didn't have these abilities and the only thing that I see different about the electronic musicians of old were that they played instruments where we more
or less program electronic musical experiences. so I wont be getting the Live 8/ akai controller because i don't think the controller is the problem, but I sure as hell will be getting Live 8
the Gargoyle

lola
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Post by lola » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:56 pm

I always use hardware for most of my sounds.
Mixing trough 32 8 analog.
Sound Sources are analog synths and digital.

The source of a sound is very important for me.

And ableton is the arranger and sound mangler.

tw1nstates
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Post by tw1nstates » Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:28 pm

HMM,

Gargoyle, dj's 2 decks, hidden from view, normally just a head, nodding in the darkness.

Ofent not even that if the club is packed.

The controllers make it more fun to perform, but at the end of the day music performance, meh, it's not playing an instrument, its not that interesting to look at unless someone is dancing around like a twat, and then they look exactly that.

if you want live music or performance go and see a band, that's what they do.

Wjo wants to drag around obsolete old creaky technology.

or one could get a keytar and play that on stage and look like a ginormous twat.

Or for percussion, there's that guy who build that hand percussion box, looks pretty silly from where I am standing. . .

It's a different paradigm. honestly i wish all these people who complain about lap top and email checking would laearn to play guitar, join a band and start hanging out in camden (or whereever applicable in your town).

I want to listen to music not watch some 20-30 year old geek masturbating on stage.

Who's that guy who mods axiom 25's or something similar and calls it live-ism or somesuch.

it sounds like noise. i

DBX live or hawtins dex and fx, fuck that's just a load of boxes all of which are programmed to play back patterns. . . It rocks sonically but the experience isn't like watching a really good guitarist, or really tight band. . .

perhaps we should do away with synths and just bang rocks :)

rant over.

Not having a crack at you mate per se, just I find this whole slightly luddite thing that goes on around the reproduciton of music a bit wierd. I know i have drifted off from your point slightly.

I mean honestly who wants to go back to the 80's, someone posted a video of Herbie Hancock, Dolby, Stevie and various others and I thought what a bunch of absolute c0Cxs (apart from stevie he's blind so he doesn't know what a bunch of d!cks the others looked like). My god if thats what people who make electronic music look like when they are in bands they should just ban the whole thing.

:)

No Keytars, no one really wants to look at you bar a bunch of spotty geeks, you aren't a rock star, you are a geek that is into Electronic music. Behave like one, get behind your equipment and show some good visuals :)))

Again Gargoyle this is not directed at you so please dont take any of it personally. I thik you just tripped a switch somewhere cos i CANT WAIT FOR LIVE8!!!!!!!

Peace n love

PAS one the old equipment thing, hopefully companies like UA with their emulations are doing away with the need for these creaky old boxes. . .

PPS I am getting Shipmann Ebbe and Flut next so meh to myself in some respects. Wont be using it live though. . .
I slipped into a daze, whilst I was there I heard the most startling music, it was at once familiar and alien, reassuring and unsettling.
https://soundcloud.com/fearoftherave

adventurepants_
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Re: Is music hardware, just plain dead?

Post by adventurepants_ » Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:41 pm

No.

guitars are just as freaking cool as they always were, and are produced in larger numbers than ever before. there are more new analog and digital hardware synths now than there ever were in the past.

Several companies are bringing out new analog monosynths for the bedroom producer.
nathannn wrote:i will block everyone on this forum if i have to.

Gargoyle
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Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:08 am

Post by Gargoyle » Thu Jan 15, 2009 11:45 pm

hey no offense taken, I just wish the music these days was as good as those artist you mentioned, sadly looks like that kind of quality went out of style with the old tech they were using.
and then again both you and I can't wait for Live 8, i'm still excited about live 7
the Gargoyle

Geezus
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Post by Geezus » Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:31 am

guitar, sax, trumpet, string instruments, etc etc. Digital still cant attain that level of sexiness

analog will never die

tw1nstates
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Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2007 1:00 pm

Post by tw1nstates » Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:34 am

`Aya,

Although i think there is a lot of really good music around.

Loads of pants stuff as well though.

i honestly think electronic music is getting much better. This year hasnt been great but I htink the next few will be quite exciting.

There was a good post by pheek about exactly that that i read recently. . . he was saying everyone is gettimg their heads round tech and producing stuff and that's why this year has been a bit meh. .

Or everyone is just partying too much. . .
:)
I slipped into a daze, whilst I was there I heard the most startling music, it was at once familiar and alien, reassuring and unsettling.
https://soundcloud.com/fearoftherave

kleine
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Post by kleine » Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:37 am


j2j
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Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:12 pm

Post by j2j » Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:41 am

awesome
too many lasers...

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